Life has gotten crazy

I've once again fallen down on my blogging because life has gotten crazy. I've been reading like crazy lately and have already read almost 16 books this year. However, since I had a horrible case of bronchitis, I fell down on my job of posting my thoughts about the books I've been reading. Here is a list of the books I've read since my last blog post:

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts

Love Me If You Dare by Carly Phillips

Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

Over the Mountain and Down By the River by Robyn Carr

A Place to Call Home by Christina James

I've been lucky with picking really great books to read lately. I haven't read a single book this year that I would rate below a "B". Not often do I have a year that starts off with 13 books all rated B or above. I did lose almost 2 weeks of reading to recovering from bronchitis, since all I did for almost 2 weeks was sleep. Luckily, I only ending up missing about 1 week from work for being sick and I'm feeling much better now.

Up next will be me getting back on track with my running. I haven't run since late December. First it was really way too cold outside for me to run. I've found I don't enjoy running in extreme heat or extreme cold. This winter has been one of the coldest and snowiest on record for TN. Now that the temps are starting to be more Spring-like, and it is daylight longer, I'm ready to start running again. My goal is to start training for a 5K race. I do much better with exercise if I have a goal. My running goals for this year will include running at least 3 5K races, including one on my 40th birthday in Oct, and at least 1 10K race. I've thought about adding a 1/2 marathon to my goals, but will hold off on that goal for a bit longer. I love an 8 mile run and even a 10 mile run, but know I'm not up for a 13.1 mile run at this time. So, I'm going to stick to my 5K and 10K races for this year.

Help out a Hero

Have you read about Marrion P’Udongo…want to help me get the word out?

In your lifetime, there are few moments when you’re given the opportunity to directly save another person’s life.-Bryan Mealer, HuffPo

If you had a chance to save somebody’s life, and it didn’t take all that much… would you do it? Well, here’s that chance.

Check out Shiloh Walker’s blog for a chance to read how you can help save a man’s life…

Instant Temptation

Instant Temptation is the final book in the Wilder Adventure series by Jill Shalvis. From the back cover.~

GET YOUR PULSE RACING

To Harley, the landscape around Wishful, California, is exhilarating, untamed, and more than a little dangerous. The same could be said for T.J. Wilder, who’s invited himself along on her trek to study a rare coyote. Harley’s career is riding on this trip, and she doesn’t need a stubborn, incredibly sexy distraction. But T.J. is a professional guide who knows when to stay back and when to provide invaluable expertise-just like he’s done since they were in high school. And Harley, as usual, is torn between throttling him and giving in to the raw attraction that’s been smoldering all these years.

T.J. knows how proud and capable Harley is, but he’s damned sure not letting her put herself at risk when there are illegal hunters in the area. She needs him, with the same soul-stirring urgency that he’s always craved her. And here, in this beautiful place days from civilization, he’ll finally have a chance to prove it-over and over again…

I’ve said it before and will say it again, I’m a huge fan of Jill Shalvis. I’m pretty sure I’ve read almost every book she has ever written (Simply Irresistible is in my TBR pile right now). With the Wilder Adventure series, I really love both Cam and Stone from the first 2 books. However, I’ve had something for T.J. since he first appeared in Instant Attraction. I’m not alone in those feelings, as many of my friends have expressed how much they love T.J. too.

Of course, Harley is the lucky one when it comes to T.J. She actually has been attracted to him since high school and even lost her virginity to him in high school. Would be nice if he actually had any memory of that night, but it was a time in T.J.’s life when he was a little wild. Years later, Harley is still attracted to T.J. and it seems that the feelings are mutual the more time they spend together. Harley does try to fight her attraction to T.J. for a while, but can’t fight her feelings forever. I love that when T.J. kisses Harley, she loses the ability to finish a sentence or even hold a coherent thought. Harley doesn’t really want to get involved with T.J. since she hopes to take a job in Colorado soon. When T.J. and Harley stop fighting their attraction to one another, they are explosive together. Since Harley still plans to leave if offered the job in Colorado, neither believes their relationship can never be more than just physical.

Of all the Wilder Adventure stories, Instant Temptation is my favorite. I love getting to see all the characters from the first 2 books, one of my favorite things about reading books in a series. But most of all, I love T.J. and Harley. Both are such strong characters and it was so fun to watch them not only fall in love, but finally admit those feelings.

Instant Gratification

Instant Gratification is the second book in Wilder Adventure series by Jill Shalvis. From the back cover.~

THE DOCTOR IS IN DEEP

Wishful, California, is 3000 miles from Dr. Emma Sinclair’s last job in a New York City ER. It may as well be another galaxy. Here, running her father’s clinic for a summer, Emma treats bee stings, stomach flu, and the occasional pet cat. Plus, she has to contend with patients like Stone Wilder: gorgeous, laid-back, and irritating beyond belief. The man laughs at her. A lot. And Emma loathes him. All except that tiny part of her that wants to throw him on her examining table and break every doctor-patient rule in the book…

When Stone tries to help Emma learn to loosen up a bit, he pictures white-water rafting or scenic mountain hikes. Not a mind-blowing affair that shakes them both to the core. Emma’s sure she has no place in a town like Wishful, but Stone know different. Emma belongs here-in this town, in his life. And convincing this strong-minded, stubborn, sexy woman of that fact will be a challenge no Wilder man could resist…

I’m a huge fan of Jill Shalvis and she totally delivered once again with Instant Gratification. Stone is a super-sexy alpha male all the way…unless he needs to have a shot or stitches. He all but passes out at the site of needles and believes all things medical could be fixed by putting a band-aid on it. Dr. Emma Sinclair is used to the pace of the New York City ER, so coming to Wishful means is a big adjustment for her. When Stone comes in injured and needing stitches, Emma won’t just let him put a band-aid on it. She also find herself incredibly attracted to Stone, in a way she has never been attracted to anyone. Stone is equally attracted to Emma and wants to help her learn to like Wishful, maybe even enough to stay. Stone and Emma fight their attraction for a while, but they are explosive once they give in to their attraction. However, since Emma has no plans to stay in Wishful, and Stone has no plans to move to New York, it seems like their relationship can never be more than just a temporary thing.

I loved Instant Gratification so much. It picked up right where Instant Attraction left off and was a winner in my book. I’ve already read Instant Temptation, the third and final book in the series and will post about it tomorrow. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes strong women and super-sexy alpha men.

Goodnight Tweetheart

Goodnight Tweetheart is the first contemporary romance by Teresa Medeiros. From the back cover.~

@WhatTheHeckHappenedToMyLife

Abigail Donovan has a lot of stuff she should be doing. Namely writing her next novel. A bestselling author who is still recovering from a near Pulitzer Prize win and the heady success that follows Oprah’s stamp of approval, she is stuck at Chapter Five and losing confidence daily. But when her publicist signs her up for a Twitter account, she’s intrigued. What’s all the fuss about?

Trending Topic: True Love

Taken under the wing of one of her Twitter followers, “MarkBaynard”-a quick-witted, quick-typing professor on sabbatical-Abby finds it easy to put words out into the world 140 characters at a time. And once she gets a handle on tweets, retweets, direct messages, hashtags, and trends, she starts to feel unblocked in writing and in life. After all, why should she be spending hours in her apartment staring at her TweetDeck and fretting about her stalled career when Mark is out there traveling the world and living?

Or is he?

Told almost entirely in tweets and DMs, Goodnight Tweetheart is a truly modern take on a classic tale of love-a Griffin and Sabine for the Twitter generation.

Goodnight Tweetheart is the first book by Teresa Medeiros I’ve read. I know she is famous for her historical romances, and after reading Goodnight Tweetheart, I will have to go back and read her back list. I follow Teresa on Twitter and had seen Goodnight Tweetheart was coming out. Since I knew the majority of the book was told almost entirely in tweets, I was intrigued to read this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Goodnight Tweetheart. I will admit I was a bit worried about Abby in the beginning of the book. She was depressed and even seemed to be to the point of being afraid to leave her apartment…you know except to run to Starbucks for her daily frappuccino fix. Once Abby joined Twitter and made friends with Mark, she started to want to have a life again. As Mark tweets her pictures of his travels, Abby starts writing again, and finally gets past the dreaded Chapter Five. Abby and Mark are growing closer as each day passes, until Mark drops a bombshell on Abby. Abby is not only mad at Mark for dropping his bombshell, she is also very hurt, as she had really started to trust him.

Goodnight Tweetheart is a fast-paced and fun romance story. I’m really hoping for more books along this line from Teresa Medeiros. I would love a sequel for Mark and Abby so we find out more about them. I also would love to see Abby’s best friend Margo get her own book. Margo was a fun secondary character in this story, and I really would love to read her story.